This is a very important distinction. If people know what is necessary, then they can work together with a common vision to achieve such societies; if people have only a set of competing proposals to work from, then the problem of achieving systemic change is much more difficult. Without an understanding of the requirements of livable and sustainable societies, popular energy is likely to be wasted in the pursuit of patchwork reforms which are either politically unattainable or which could not in any case achieve the desired goals.

We have looked at societies as systems, and have noted that appropriate feedback mechanisms are necessary to achieve system stability. The feedback mechanism necessary to achieve livability is a locally-based, collaborative, democratic process. In order to achieve general sustainability, comprehensive feedback regarding the allocation of resources must be used to regulate the operation of the economy. Democracy requires that economic arrangements be determined locally; sustainability requires that such local arrangements conform to society-wide budgets governing the allocation of societal resources.

We have found that a system of sovereign nations, under an agreed set of constraints and guidelines, is preferable to a world government. Not only does distributed sovereignty provide better protection for democracy and encourage cultural diversity, but it permits problems to be localized and affords greater long-term stability and system robustness.

In Part I, in order to understand globalization, we looked into the nature of capitalism and found that capitalism's growth imperative has necessarily led to undemocratic, unsustainable societies and to international conflict, exploitation, and imperialism. We found that Western republics, while claiming to be democracies, have in fact been based on competitive factionalism which has facilitated the usurpation of power and wealth by capitalist elite oligarchies.

From their Western power base, assisted by the manipulation of popular nationalism, Western elites have managed to gain essential control of the world's politics and economics. We have found that globalization, the final stage of capitalism's evolution, brings the abandonment of Western populations and the establishment of a dictatorial global regime under the direct control of the capitalist oligarchy. As the natural limits of the finite Earth force an end to the growth of capital accumulation, this global regime enables the elite oligarchy to fashion a successor economic system that serves their interests and maintains their global dictatorial power.

The achievement of livability, democracy, and sustainability cannot, therefore, be achieved by the reform of capitalism nor by the piecemeal reform of current political processes. What is required is no less than a general democratic revolution, a massive popular movement that overcomes elite domination through the establishment of strong, participative, civil societies. Only by such an establishment of functional democracies can elite domination be ended and capitalism be replaced by sustainable economics.

In Part III we will look in more detail into the dynamics of movement building, at the role of international solidarity, and at the nature of the struggle to be expected in overcoming the global capitalist system. In the course of the past few centuries there have been many struggles against capitalism, and there are clear patterns that can be identified in the offensive and defensive strategies capitalist elites have employed. Some movements have been more successful than others, and there are specific obstacles that can be anticipated on the path to victory.